On Saturday, February 29, Askew in Providence was alive with cheering, singing and dancing during a fundraiser held by drag king extraordinaire Randy Andy. The event, aptly named Bushfires & Earthquakes, was in support of relief for Australia and Puerto Rico, regions recently affected by natural disasters. The venue found itself packed wall to wall […]
Local Rhode Island artist Norlan Olivo will be displaying his work in the group show Hagiography or New Saints, at Distillery Gallery at 516 East 2nd Street, Boston. As a long-term resident of AS220, Olivo hopes to highlight Providence’s evolution as a collaborative arts community, while challenging some of Providence’s darker undertones. Providence on Fire, the title of […]
Art brings community together and promotes positive mental health, and we want to encourage community and creativity in this time of social distancing. Check out our #MotifVirtualGallery compilation page designed to showcase Rhode Island artists. If you like what they’re doing, consider making a donation through their preferred app, which appears below each piece. “Outside […]
Performance cancellations, while necessary, are having a very real impact on the income of local artists. On this page, we’ll compile a list of resources and fun stuff to help artists connect, support each other and express themselves. To add to this list, email news@motifri.com Find a list of free resources, opportunities and financial relief […]
I am at DWRI Letterpress, and I am standing in front of a Linotype, the first automatic typesetting machine — a machine that Edison called the “Eighth Wonder of The World” — and over the whirring, clanking and spitting of its 3,000 moving parts, Dan Wood is explaining why it’s so wondrous, or in his […]
Jesse King is a self-taught artist living in Rhode Island who turns ordinary children’s toys into freakishly ghoulish monsters. One of King’s creations was recently seen at an event hosted by PVD Horror to benefit The Providence Animal Rescue League. The creepy, razor-toothed bear was extremely popular among the crowd and left attendees wondering where […]
Set amid the quaint taverns and curio shops that line lower Thames Street, Coastal Contemporary Gallery is an anomaly in the tourist town of Newport. When Shari Weschler opened her gallery in May 2018, she also opened the door to a world of art that was a distinct departure from the usual seascapes and souvenirs. […]
A group of us were walking down Empire Street in Downcity around 8:30pm on a Saturday night, and we saw a van, admittedly parked in a no-parking zone, right outside AS220. Our attention was captured by two items: one a hand-lettered cardboard sign on the dashboard explaining that the owner of the van was homeless […]
They met at a wedding. She was draped in a red sash surrounded by creme taffeta, and the camera took note of the dark-eyed pair. By the time they began the Beguine, he had already started inviting guests to their own special day, in his mind. Being a man of few words, he started mailing […]
The route to the Public Gallery winds through a pretty rough neighborhood – the streets of Olneyville are lined with pawnbrokers, flea markets and head shops; an old woman waves down cars near a stop light, peddling flowers. But along with the obvious signs of poverty, there are signs of strength. A poster on a […]